A screenshot taken from a PSU video showing the ACE package that has been designed to enable its F-16s to operate while being hunted on the ground by Russian forces. (Ukrainian Air Force)
The Ukrainian Air Force (Povitryani Syly Ukrayiny: PSU) has for the first time disclosed some of the Agile Combat Employment (ACE) methods it has been utilising to safely operate its fleet of Lockheed Martin F-16 Fighting Falcon combat aircraft in the face of continued targeting from Russian forces.
Posted to the PSU's official Telegram channel on 22 July, a nearly two-minute video showcased the ACE package known as ‘Come Back Alive', which has been developed under the auspices of Office 61 that is responsible for state aviation. As such, the package is also referred to as Project 61.
“In the conditions of a real war, when the enemy is hunting aircraft and airfields, the [PSU] lacked mobility in servicing both the F-16s themselves and their air-launched weapons,” the PSU said. “The F-16 is the most sophisticated Western equipment we've been waiting for. ‘Come Back Alive', at the request of the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine and with the support of the state-owned company Ukrnafta, [was] developed, purchased, and handed over for the air force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine the country's first mobile complexes for servicing aircraft of a new model.”
As shown in the video, the Come Back Alive/Project 61 package comprises a mobile mission planning complex, where pre-flight briefing of pilots is held. It also includes two air-launched weapons training complexes to prepare and verify the munitions, as well as facilitating their mating to the aircraft.
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